Advanced Bionics Ag

Advanced Bionics Corporation

Advance Bionics, LLC

Aniket Saoji

Leonid Michael Litvak

Abhijit Kulkarni

Kanthaiah Koka

R Tissa Karunasiri

Smita S Agrawal

Charles C Finley

Gulamali Emadi

Lakshmi Narayan Mishra

Gene Y Fridman

Mark B Downing

Edward Holman Overstreet

Guillermo A Calle

Anthony J Spahr

Kinuko Masaki

Patrick T Wong

Andrew Perry Quick

Myles McLaughlin

Waldo Nogueira

An exemplary system includes 1) a programming device configured to be located external to a cochlear implant patient and communicatively coupled to a cochlear implant system associated with the patient, 2) a programming interface device communicatively coupled to the programming device and configured to be located external to the patient, and 3) a receiver communicatively coupled directly to the programming interface device. The programming device directs at least one of the cochlear implant system and the receiver to apply stimulation to the patient, records an evoked response that occurs in response to the stimulation, and performs a predetermined action in accordance with the evoked response. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Programming systems for eliciting evoked responses in a cochlear implant patient and performing predetermined actions in accordance with the evoked responses

An exemplary system includes a processing facility configured to process an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient and a control facility configured to direct a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation representative of the audio signal to the cochlear implant patient by 1) directing the cochlear implant to concurrently apply a first biphasic stimulation pulse by way of a first electrode and a second biphasic stimulation pulse by way of a second electrode during a first time slot, and 2) directing the cochlear implant to concurrently apply a third biphasic stimulation pulse by way of the second electrode and a fourth biphasic stimulation pulse by way of a third electrode during a second time slot that immediately follows the first time slot. The third and fourth biphasic stimulation pulses are flipped in phase compared to the first and second biphasic stimulation pulses.

Systems and methods for maximizing loudness sensation in a cochlear implant patient

An exemplary system includes 1) an electro-acoustic stimulation ('EAS') sound processor configured to be located external to a patient, 2) a cochlear implant communicatively coupled to the EAS sound processor and configured to be implanted within the patient, 3) an electrode array communicatively coupled to the cochlear implant and configured to be located within a cochlea of the patient, and 4) a receiver communicatively coupled to the EAS sound processor and configured to be in communication with an ear of the patient. The EAS sound processor directs at least one of the cochlear implant and the receiver to apply stimulation to the patient, records an evoked response that occurs in response to the stimulation, and performs a predetermined action in accordance with the evoked response. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Electro-acoustic stimulation systems that perform predetermined actions in accordance with evoked responses

An exemplary stapedius reflex measurement safety system includes a stimulation management facility configured to direct a cochlear implant system to apply an electrical stimulus to an auditory pathway of a patient and a detection facility configured to determine that a change in acoustic immittance that occurs as the electrical stimulus is being applied by the cochlear implant system is likely representative of a rise time phase associated with an occurrence of a stapedius reflex within the patient. The stimulation management facility is further configured to direct, in response to the determination, the cochlear implant system to cease applying the electrical stimulus.

Stapedius reflex measurement safety systems and methods

Among other things, enhancing spectral contrast for a cochlear implant listener includes detecting a time domain signal. A first transformation is applied to the detected time domain signal to convert the time domain signal to a frequency domain signal. A second transformation is applied to the frequency domain signal to express the frequency domain signal as a sum of two or more components. A sensitivity of the cochlear implant listener to detect modulation of each component is obtained.

Spectral contrast enhancement in a cochlear implant speech processor

An exemplary method of lowering a pitch sensation as perceived by a cochlear implant patient includes 1) identifying a most apical electrode included in a plurality of electrodes disposed within a cochlea of the patient, 2) directing a cochlear implant communicatively coupled to the plurality of electrodes to apply one or more anodecathode biphasic stimulation pulses to the most apical electrode during a stimulation period, and 3) directing the cochlear implant to apply one or more cathode-anode biphasic stimulation pulses to one or more other electrodes included in the plurality of electrodes during the stimulation period. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Methods and systems for lowering a pitch sensation as perceived by a cochlear implant patient

An exemplary system for synchronizing an operation of a middle ear analyzer and a cochlear implant system includes 1) a mapping facility configured to maintain mapping data representative of an association between a plurality of sound levels and a plurality of current levels and between a plurality of frequencies and a plurality of electrodes, 2) a detection facility configured to receive an acoustic signal transmitted by the middle ear analyzer and detect a sound level and a frequency of the acoustic signal, and 3) a processing facility configured to identify, based on the mapping data, a current level associated with the detected sound level and one or more electrodes associated with the detected frequency and direct the cochlear implant system to apply electrical stimulation having the identified current level to one or more stimulation sites within a patient by way of the identified one or more electrodes.

Systems and methods for synchronizing an operation of a middle ear analyzer and a cochlear implant system

An exemplary system includes a sound processing unit configured to apply noise reduction to an audio signal in accordance with a noise reduction parameter, an implantable cochlear stimulator communicatively coupled to the sound processing unit and configured to apply stimulation representative of the noise reduced audio signal to a patient via one or more electrodes, and a user input facility communicatively coupled to the sound processing unit and that facilitates manual adjustment of the noise reduction parameter.

Systems and methods of facilitating manual adjustment of one or more cochlear implant system control parameters

An exemplary method of optimizing speech and music perception by a bilateral cochlear implant patient includes identifying a first ear of a bilateral cochlear implant patient as being relatively more suited for processing speech than a second ear of the patient, directing a first cochlear implant subsystem associated with the first ear to operate in accordance with a first sound processing program configured to enhance speech perception by the patient, and directing a second cochlear implant subsystem associated with the second ear to operate in accordance with a second sound processing program configured to enhance music perception by the patient. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

Methods and systems for optimizing speech and music perception by a bilateral cochlear implant patient

An exemplary system includes an implantable cochlear stimulator implanted within a patient, a short electrode array coupled to the implantable cochlear stimulator and having a plurality of electrodes disposed thereon, and a sound processor communicatively coupled to the implantable cochlear stimulator. The sound processor may direct the implantable cochlear stimulator to apply a main current to a first electrode included in the plurality of electrodes and associated with a first pitch, direct the implantable cochlear stimulator to concurrently apply, during the application of the main current, a compensation current to a second electrode included in the plurality of electrodes and associated with a second pitch, and optimize an amount of the compensation current to result in a target pitch being presented to the patient that is distanced from the first pitch in a pitch direction opposite a pitch direction of the second pitch in relation to the first pitch.

Compensation current optimization for auditory prosthesis systems

An exemplary system includes a sound processor configured to process one or more audio signals and an implantable cochlear stimulator configured to apply stimulation representative of the one or more audio signals to a patient via a plurality of electrodes. In some embodiments, the sound processor directs the implantable cochlear stimulator to 1) apply a main current to a first electrode included in the plurality of electrodes and associated with a first pitch, 2) concurrently apply, during the application of the main current, a compensation current to a second electrode included in the plurality of electrodes and associated with a second pitch that is lower than the first pitch, and 3) adjust the compensation current to result in a target pitch being presented to the patient, the target pitch being higher than the first pitch.

Compensation current optimization for cochlear implant systems

An exemplary system includes a sound processor configured to identify one or more spectral peaks of an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient and an implantable cochlear stimulator communicatively coupled to the sound processor and configured to apply electrical stimulation representative of the one or more spectral peaks to at least one stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a partial multipolar stimulation configuration and apply electrical stimulation representative of one or more other spectral components of the audio signal to at least one other stimulation site within the cochlear implant patient using a monopolar stimulation configuration. Corresponding systems methods are also disclosed.

Methods and systems for representing different spectral components of an audio signal presented to a cochlear implant patient

An exemplary method includes a sound processing subsystem 1) dividing an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient into a plurality of signals each representative of a distinct frequency portion of the audio signal and each contained within a distinct analysis channel included in a plurality of analysis channels, 2) determining a sound level of each signal included in the plurality of signals, and 3) setting an amount of noise reduction applied to each signal included in the plurality of signals in accordance with the determined sound level of each signal included in the plurality of signals. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

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Newhall, CA, United States of America

Aniket Saoji